UPDATE: Miami Dolphins running back Kory Sheets suffered a season-ending injury to his right Achilles’ tendon at Wednesday’s morning practice, a league source confirmed.

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano had said Sheets, a candidate to assume primary kickoff return chores, was being sent for further tests.

Sheets becomes the second Dolphins player in as many weeks to go down for the year with an Achillles’ tear. He joins defensive end Phillip Merling, a former second-round pick who was set to enter training camp as a starter.

With Sheets out, it figures to improve the chances of Nolan Carroll and Tristan Davis, two of his main competitors at the kickoff return spot. The team is searching for a successor to Ted Ginn Jr., traded to the 49ers this offseason.

This may turn out not to be as serious as it looked, but Miami Dolphins running back Kory Sheets certainly appeared to be in a lot of pain after he hit the ground midway through Wednesday’s morning practice.

Sheets, a second-year man out of Purdue who is bidding to succeed Ted Ginn Jr. as the primary kickoff returner, was returning his third and final kick of the period when he went down in a heap, untouched.

Sheets slammed the ground with his left hand and stayed down for several minutes as three trainers attended to him. Nine teammates gathered around, all wearing somber looks, and even Dolphins coach Tony Sparano spent some time watching Sheets closely.

Eventually, Sheets limped off the field with the help of two trainers. He passed by Bill Parcells’ golf cart, and the Dolphins’ football czar appeared to needle him a bit, so maybe that’s a hopeful sign.

But the rest of the way into the locker room, Sheets was clearly favoring his right leg. Only his right heel would touch the ground with each step, and he did not return to the practice.

Sheets was second of three kick returners getting reps in that portion of practice. Nolan Carroll, the rookie fifth-rounder out of Maryland, led off, followed by Sheets and fellow second-year man Tristan Davis.

Will ask Sparano for an update when he meets with the media at 12:30, but here’s what he said about Sheets on Tuesday when asked about his possible role:

“When we brought him in at the end of last season … we felt like he had a good set of run skills,. I believe that in the first couple of practices here anyway we’ve seen some of that happening. I think he has very good vision, and he’s an explosive guy. There’s some things he has to do better from a blocking standpoint, some things maybe that weren’t asked as much of him in college as you might have to do here. … Kory in the special teams game is something that I’m kind of anxious to see, I think he has the ability now, the ability to do some jobs. Whether or not that ability carries over into the games and we see somebody willing to run down the field on kickoff team with his speed and his size and do some of those jobs. … The return game with the ball, any of those types of things for me needs to be seen. But he has that ability, and we’re trying to make that evaluation as we go on here. If he can do those things it would help.”

Wednesday’s development, obviously, does not help Sheets’ case.

Other notes from Wednesday’s first session: Sparano said he wasn’t too worried about the practice-ending scuffle between guard Richie Incognito and defensive end Lionel Dotson. Incognito appeared to get the better of this one. … Undrafted rookie CB A.J. Wallace, Jared Odrick’s former Penn State teammate, has left the team, Sparano said. The loss of Wallace and Evan Oglesby, who was released Tuesday with a non-football illness, leaves the Dolphins with seven cornerbacks, including converted safety Nate Ness. … Rookie LB Austin Spitler, who is battling an illness and has not practiced in several days, “had a little setback,” Sparano said. His return date is unclear. … Left tackle Andrew Gardner struggled badly, giving up “sacks” to Charlie Anderson and rookie Chris McCoy in team drills. Gardner is a 2009 sixth-rounder out of Georgia Tech who appears to be developing slowly. … Sparano said the team did a “lot of [pre-draft] work” on newly signed inside linebacker Micah Johnson, an undrafted rookie out of Kentucky. They like his strength and toughness and believe he has some real upside. Now, if they can just keep his knees healthy. … Wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen, who spent the past two years in the Canadian Football League, returned to practice after missing several days with a leg injury.

Comments (164 Comments)

An Achilles rupture is almost always non-contact. Your legs are lifting your entire body via that tendon every time you step. Wear and tear on the tendon connection to the heel, bad genes, older age, sudden changes in physical activity, muscle fatigue, and misalignment can all be causes. When you consider the stress your legs put on the tendon, it’s a wonder we don’t see more of them. As a 38 year old guy that still tries to play basketball like I’m in my twenties, I get nervous even talking about it.

I think it sucks to lose Sheets like this. There’s a reason we poached him from SFs PS, and a reason they were bummed to lose him, and to say “oh well, he wasn’t going to make the team anyway” is kinda shortsighted. Nobody’s got a crystal ball, and every player in camp is part of the formula of building a winner.

Regarding the Ginn trade, I hardly thought it was silly. He needed a fresh start, and we’re stacked at WR right now. To say we should have kept him just because of his KR skills doesn’t make sense unless he can make the team and help in other ways. Specialists are generally PK, Punter, and Long Snapper. If you’re gonna keep a guy JUST for returns he’s gotta contribute on both PR and KR, and Ginn wasn’t doing that.

..and that ^ is coming from one of the most notorious TG defenders in the mob!

MANKATO, Minn. (AP)—Brett Favre’s flip-flopping is at full throttle, the surest sign yet that training camp is under way in Minnesota.

Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, said Wednesday that the veteran quarterback plans to return to the team if he is healthy. The 40-year-old Favre is still rehabbing his surgically repaired left ankle that he injured in the NFC title game loss at New Orleans.

Guys get hurt in camp, happens all over. I am a little more bummed about Eeds then Sheets. Grice-Mullen can still make an impact if he gets back to practice. As far as Gardner goes, the boy had his hands on his hips all day when I saw him last Saturday. Whether he is not in shape or the heat is just killing him is the question. He looked worn out. Looking forward to see some live action Saturday to get a better feel on the defense.

Your team is helmed by a fat retard who said his team wouldn’t make the playoffs last year, ….um….until his team decided to actually make the playoffs despite him!!

What a friggin’ TOOL. Imagine if any other coach did that!! You know….coaches with educations…..

Revis is spanking them, the team is about to implode!!

JT will be flattened either in preseason or by week 4 and be out for the year…Sancheez will be crushed by his own lack of will and intellect, and we will all boooipppp and aaarrrggghhhttttt at the sight of a sorry arsed self involved group of adolescents being given their lunch trays shoved quickly down their throats by teams that are sick of their braggadocio and pomposity!!!

So two quit, they had enough of spaganos and his meatball meathodology!
Holy sheets and epps-on salts are out along wit Merling and ferguson.
Taylor left for greener pastures. So it’s bring in the schlepers suit em up and stick em out there.
Why is it players quit the doofins? I don’t hear it happenin to other teams?
The smell of ggggggggaaaaa-bage is everywhere! It’s only a matter of time before Marshall’s hip starts actin up and damnsby’s feet.
How awful can it get? Nobody knows, All we know from what Taylor said, the practice sessions with JETS were alot better.
Sign up for “Who’s Next” The next doofin to fall because of injury or criminal charges? winner gets a ticket to a JET game in the playoffs.

So two quit, they had enough of spaganos and his meatball meathodology!
Holy sheets and epps-on salts are out along wit Merling and ferguson.
Taylor left for greener pastures. So it’s bring in the schlepers suit em up and stick em out there.
Why is it players quit the doofins? I don’t hear it happenin to other teams?
The smell of ggggggggaaaaa-bage is everywhere! It’s only a matter of time before Marshall’s hip starts actin up and damnsby’s feet.
How awful can it get? Nobody knows, All we know from what Taylor said, the practice sessions with JETS were alot better.
Sign up for “Who’s Next” The next doofin to fall because of injury or criminal charges?

Successor? Really? How about the Ginn just warmed up the seat for whomever. My only memories of him helping the team are mostly on special teams. Like the PR he took back for a TD.

Then again, i also remember seeing him running out of bounds in one too many occasions. That’s nothing new. While he was here i supported him, after all, he was a dolphin. A pricey one at that. We wasted a 9th pick on him. I thought Yatil Green was one of our biggest busts until Ginn and his family rolled into town.

But those times are gone, Ginn is gone and we ought to not mention him anymore.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo….let’s talk about who IS here. Or better yet, How many healthy bodies are we going to have left by the end of camp. I guess Sparano won’t have to cut nobody by the end of camp.

Now, my two cents. If injuries were to happen, i’d rather be now. When we can still find decent players out there, who will have plenty of time to learn the system and have gone through most of camp with us. Not to mention we can still adjust the Roster and not after cuts are made, By then, rosters will be set. The team then will be left to scramble to find somebody who can help the team.

We might have to resort to signing a vet who’s out of work (which in turn will be more difficult to find since other teams will also go through the same thing). Add to that the fact that we could possibly have to cut somebody with potential so we can use the roster spot and i just don’t like it. Like i said, i much rather be now that the injuries happen.

Successor? Really? That’s what you are going with? How about the Ginn just warmed up the seat for whomever. My only memories of him helping the team are mostly on special teams. Like the PR he took back for a TD.

Then again, i also remember seeing him running out of bounds in one too many occasions. That’s nothing new. While he was here i supported him, after all, he was a dolphin. A pricey one at that. We wasted a 9th pick on him. I thought Yatil Green was one of our biggest busts until Ginn and his family rolled into town.

But those times are gone, Ginn is gone and we ought to not mention him anymore.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo….let’s talk about who IS here. Or better yet, How many healthy bodies are we going to have left by the end of camp. I guess Sparano won’t have to cut nobody by the end of camp.

Now, my two cents. If injuries were to happen, i’d rather be now. When we can still find decent players out there, who will have plenty of time to learn the system and have gone through most of camp with us. Not to mention we can still adjust the Roster and not after cuts are made, By then, rosters will be set. The team then will be left to scramble to find somebody who can help the team.

We might have to resort to signing a vet who’s out of work (which in turn will be more difficult to find since other teams will also go through the same thing). Add to that the fact that we could possibly have to cut somebody with potential so we can use the roster spot and i just don’t like it. Like i said, i much rather be now that the injuries happen.

Starting to feel good about the first 2 picks in the draft with Odrick & Misi…
Original draft pick…then Chargers pick Mathews got 25 mil!!!
We got Odrick AND Misi BOTH for under that….
So, in a way, we got 2 guys, instead of 1, AND saved huge bucks!!!

Merling gone??? maybe hurt depth
Sheets gone??? might have not even made roster
Edds gone??? ILB is the strongest unit on Defense

I thought McNabb and Beck looked good in practice today. Fellow quarterbacks Richard Bartel and Rex Grossman did not, however. Neither was particularly accurate, though Grossman was especially wild and kept over-throwing deep post patterns that should have gone for long gains or touchdowns. Grossman is a very streaky passer and not known for his accuracy, so that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

OMAR KELLY was unsuccessful at achieving his childhood dream to become a super hero, so he figured he'd do the next best thing and become a journalist who fights against injustice, and searches for truth. After being bored to death reporting news and covering politics, he switched to sports.
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IZZY GOULD joined the Sun Sentinel in Feb. 2012 as a Senior Sports Reporter on the Miami Dolphins beat. He came to South Florida fresh off covering the University of Alabama football program, including its 2011 national championship team. More